The Complete History of Music, Part 4: The Late Baroque

Arcangelo Corelli solidified the violin as a dominant instrument and advanced the sonata and concerto, hinting at classical tonality with his balanced, thoughtful Baroque style.

Cristofori, a late Baroque Italian instrument maker, invents the piano forte, enabling dynamic variation beyond harpsichords through hammers and strings.

Explore how Johann Sebastian Bach, the late Baroque culmination, perfected Baroque traditions, while German composers fused Italian, French, and German styles under patronage.

Bach advances through Mühlhausen, Weimar, Crichton, and Leipzig, writing cantatas weekly and organ and chamber music, while marriages and personal losses shape his career.

Trace Bach's career as a church musician and organist, mastering counterpoint and baroque style while leading the Collegium Musicum and teaching across keyboard, ensemble, and pedagogical works.

Trace Bach’s virtuosic late Baroque output in Leipzig, from cantatas and organ preludes to the Well-Tempered Clavier, Orgelbüchlein, Brandenburg Concertos, and the Musical Offering inspired by Frederick the Great.

Explore Bach's The Art of the Fugue, a polyphonic collection of 18 canons and fugues built on a single subject, arranged for increasing complexity and pedagogical growth.

Georg Philipp Telemann, a late baroque German composer and versatile performer, wrote thousands of works, many pedagogical, and pioneered publishing rights shaping classical-era copyright.

Explore George Frideric Handel, a late baroque cosmopolitan German-born composer who absorbed German, Italian, French, and English styles through travel, shaping London public performances and the Royal Academy of Music.

Handel pioneers the English oratorio in the 1730s, basing biblical stories on English language works, with a prominent chorus and a balance of recitative and aria, exemplified by Messiah.

Explore how Giovanni Battista Sammartini shaped the symphony from opera overture origins into a more formal, multi movement bridge from Baroque to classical, influencing Gluck and Johann Christian Bach.

Analyze Vivaldi’s ritornello form with orchestra and virtuosic solo episodes, and his expressive slow movements in cantabile style, from through-composed to two-part forms, including the four seasons.

Discover how Dieterich Buxtehude, a Denmark-born German organist and composer, mentored Bach and shaped the late Baroque through his concert work and performances, including the Passacaglia in D minor.

Explore Farinelli's baroque career as a renowned castrato singer, spanning Italian roots to the court of Spain, with a unique voice range and enduring timbre beyond falsetto.

Explore how Jean-Philippe Rameau, a radical theorist and composer, challenged traditional French opera with richer harmony, chromaticism, and innovative orchestration, documented in his 1722 treatise on harmony.

Learn about German baroque composer Johann Pachelbel, a prolific organist and teacher connected to the Bach family, whose canon in d rose to fame in the late 20th century.

Elisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre emerges as a notable French harpsichordist and composer, supported by her privileged musical family and Louis XIV's court, enabling a remarkable late baroque career.

Explore François Couperin, a late baroque French composer, organist and harpsichordist, who joined Louis XIV’s court, earned royal privilege to publish harpsichord works, and wrote influential harpsichord treatises.

Couperin uses evocative titles to suggest mood beyond the key in late baroque harpsichord works. We examine his third book’s suites, with stylized dances, contrasts, and ornamentation guidance.

Trace the sons of J.S. Bach across two generations, noting four composers and how their styles transition from baroque toward the classical era.

Discover Johann Joachim Quantz, a German composer, flutist, and flute maker who innovated flute design at Frederick the Great's court, met J. S. Bach, and wrote On playing the flute.

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